The US Blu Ray is uncut like the UK version and it is a much better film! I'd say most of the NC-17 violence is on there but it's still missing Roper's full uncut death and the ear cutting scene.
Classic Van Damme flick. I've never understood people bitching about the acting in a Van Damme movie, it's serviceable enough, you don't watch a Van Damme movie for the quality of the acting. Like you said Ollie it's all about the action and stunts, Van Damme kicking arse that's what we came to see. As far as John Woo's Hollywood career in my opinion he peaked with Face Off, after that he really went downhill. Mission Impossible 2 was absolute shite and everything else was completely forgettable. Another awesome retrospective Ollie.
sorry for the necroposting but we can say that Face Off was an exception in Woo's filmography at the time, he came from almost flawless hard boiled oir\action movies then he did Hard Taget, which i see as his most famous\well received "excellent movie", then Face Off, which was a very different movie compared to his "first life" as a director: it was good (imho his best works are the action\hard boiled) but different from his previous movie (and Cage's performance was the actual reason the movie looks better than it actually is), MI2 was his second experiment with action\techno thriller and yes, it sucked badly... compared to the very good one it just disappear, but it's more a matter of wrong tone: we came from a very Bondish Ethan Hunt to full action hero in the second one (basically setting the pave for the second life of Tom Cruise as a full action star). TLDR: outside his almost flawless career in HK, in his early run in USA Hard Target was his best movie, the one with the most spectacular stunts great "gun porn" and a decent to solid plot that keeps all togheter, Face Off was a very good experiment with the techno thriller sub genre and MI2 was his first real mistake and the only movie of him that i just watched one single time. The Killer, A better Tomorrow and Hard Target are his best movies IMHO.
I have an OK time with Wind talkers for NIC Cage, but it's not a great one besides that one I agree he peaked with Face Off. I enjoy all of his films very much up to and including Face-Off, after that, I can enjoy Wind talkers Ok and Paycheck with Ben Affleck that's another OK movie but doesn't feel like a John Woo film.
Van Damme is Awesome. Hollywood needs to give him one last chance in an A- list movie. Severely underrated in comedy too. Best thing in Expendables 2 yet after went bk doing straight to dvd stuff!!!
Love that scene!! He sorta slaps it on the top of the head, then slugs it right in the kisser... then he proceeds to bite it's rattle off, and sets a booby trap... sheer brilliance!
I find it almost impossible to pick a favourite Van Damme film but it would either be Hard Target, Universal Soldier or Double Impact. John Woo was in top form here considering it was his first Hollywood film but nothing will ever beat Hard Boiled. That insane single take action scene in the hospital? Madness. Genius but madness!
Oliver Harper ...and Hong Kong actors don’t come much cooler than Chow Yun-Fat! Such a great performer, and (most of the time) so good at firing a gun without blinking like mad every time it goes off!
Face/Off is where John Woo was given major creative freedom for that film. I have never watched Hard Target but it is an action-packed that I have watched such as The Killer, Face/Off, and Mission Impossible 2. I think, John Woo is a great action Director from The Killer, Face/Off, and Mission Impossible 2
That was Sven-Ole Thorsen who is close friends with Arnold Schwarzenegger and has been a bad guy in several of Schwarzeneggers movies along with being a bad guy and fighting against Steven Seagal in On Deadly Ground.
I remember my brother and I accidentally catching this on TV when we were kids (way too young to watch this type of film) and I loved Lance Henriksen so much that when my friends and I plays dress up, I stole my dads overcoat and popped the color and carried a pop pistol and imitated his voice lol. Great review as always, Olly!
Great review. I do like Bloodsport and Kickboxer, but for me this is the best Van Damme film ...though I haven't seen any from this century aside from JCVD. I genuinely miss the days of Hollywood giving him a chance.
See they didn't have a problem with the cocaine use, it was his depression. Cause people in hollywood like to live in a make believe reality where everything is great all the time and fame is the only thing in life that matters.
Some of the latest stuff is alright but his last epic film was "JCVD" from 2008. Didn't really like "The Last Mercenary" on Netflix but "We Die Young" was pretty cool.
I met Lane Henriksen at Ottawa Comicon in 2015 (I've also met Peter Mayhew at the same event, and tbh Henriksen was more humble) and is probably the nicest and most sincere person that I'd ever met. I'd expressed my love for the character of Bishop, and he exhibited a lot of humility by my remark, and he shook my hand in gratitude. I'd also mentioned my favor for Steve Hackett in Mass Effect and he recalled it was a fun experience. He was so fucking cool.
nahh, the most badass scene is the stunt with the motorbike... but even when he shotted that guy with a colorful shirt with an "inverted gun" or the dual gun shooting with Arnold Wooslo were sick. and some uncle's lines were priceless.
I usually agree with everything you say Oliver. But not Van Dammes mullet. His mullet is glorious in this movie. He has the best looking mullet I've ever seen.
Great retrospective, mr. Harper. I have been watching your videos for quite some time now but this is the first one on which i decided to leave a comment, and that mostly because Hard Target is one of my all time favorites (action) movies and with Universal Soldier my favorite Van Damme movie. As someone who is very familliar with movie censorship, i can honestly say that for some reason MPAA was particularly strict back in the early 90's which is why they ordered severe cuts on movies like Cliffhanger, The Crow, Predator 2 and many others. But watching the workprints of these movies with all uncut graphic scenes, i really can't see anything that was so violent and bloody that it had to be cut, which is why i think that censors really made a mistake demanding cuts on movies like this.
LOVED this movie, esp Jean Claude's full body kick above his head (in the scene where he saves Yancy Butler by her car) and of course the great Lance!!!
Terrific review! Very thorough! I bought the 99 min DVD a month ago and it is unreal. A complete action film. Great characters, great fights and gunplay. Couldn't ask for more!
every time i rewatch this movie i fell bad, very bad, for that policewoman's demise. poor woman, she was apparently the only person trusting them... and got a payback in bulletts...
"Chance???" "Ma momma took one....." Hehe brilliant. Thanks for sharing this Ollie, I've not watched Hard Target in a long time and this convinced me to blow the dust off the DVD lol. Some of the action in this is waaaay over the top and ludicrous but it all adds to the John Woo charm huh?? That shot of Van Damme standing on the bike going 2 mph is hilarious. Another great retrospective and I've already watched it a few times (was mainly just listening on a drive the first time!) thanks Ollie
The motorcycle scene. I'll never forget! I saw it in theatre, and you could see the support wheels for more than a second. Never seen again on VHS, DVD or television...
Van Damme's best film, in my opinion. Definitely the most action-packed of his films and it has some of the best villains in all of his films. Loved the storyline as well.
Really love the action sections at the beginning and end edited for the retrospectives. It feels, like I'm watching the movie trailer (and movie) again for the first time. Great!
Hard target is the best action movie ever. It is my second best movie the first one wilj be Die Hard. I love to watch these movies so much. Hard Target, Bloodsport and Universal Soldier are my 3 top best Van Damme movies I love them so much and I love Love Hard Target To death! Thanks for the video I loved it and I have enjoyed your review.
+crazy4avrillavignex I love it too. Not sure if it's my favorite by any means, but definitely very very good. Face off is probably my favorite action movie.
This is one of my favorite movies, remember buying the novelization so I could still have the movie with me at school...."Randall, Randall, Randall"...."What kind of name is Chance?" "My momma took one."
This in not just Van Damme’s best movie but also John Woo’s. I love Both The Killer and Hard Boiled, but the cinematography in this movie exceedes both. Every shot can be painted on a canvas. This movie can easily be turned into a comic book. Best villains, best atmosphere, the sound and soundtrack is exceptional, and let’s not ignore the best mullet ever…since it seems to come back :)), and I heard it looks incredible in 4k.
Direction was bound to go wrong with a French speaking Belgian trying to communicate with a Chinese director, both in their own chopped up English version 😬
I wish Hollywood DPs, editors and fight choreographers would pay attention to the beautiful slo-mo action in this and Woo's earlier movies. No shaky cam, yet exciting as hell.
Horribly underrated action flick. Woo + JCVD was a superb combination, with Henriksen & Vosloo delivering terrific bad guy performances. Plus, the slide guitar track that plays in the diner fight is THE single greatest bit of fight music in any movie.
Let's face fact from fiction here: no director could get close to construct the marvelous action-scenes than John Woo. Hardboiled is one of the most impressive and over the top action-films in recent history, but A Better Tomorrow is one of my favorite films of all time. I still got to check out Hard Target, though.
“Hard Target” is not bad. Sure, it’s nowhere near as good as the likes of “A Better Tomorrow”, “The Killer” or “Hard-Boiled”, but it could have been a lot worse.
Hard Target was pinnacle Hollywood Van Damme, imo. It also introduced me to John Woo at a young age. I remember watching this in theater thinking "Who directed these badass action sequences?" The internet was still young in its popularity when this film was released, but we still had the old trusted imdb, mirc, and mrqe. A little investigation on an old dial up connection brought me to John Woo, and the recently released Hard Boiled. The rest is history.
Great action, great cast, great soundtrack! I dont mind Van Dammes performance. I Think he has charm. And he sound weird because of his accent..not really his performance?
Oliver, not only are you the best reviewer around, bar none, I appreciate the way you refer to actors and movie crew members more often than not by their first names. I've always disliked when performers and professionals are referred to by their surnames. It always sounds very rude and impersonal. You doing the opposite of that adds a tone of humanity and respect to your work. Keep it up!
when dealing with slow motion your stunts need to be on point. its comical to see him hit the guy in the side of the eye but his lip move like he kicked him in the jaw.
I only saw bits of this when I was a kid, I'll always remember that bit when he catches the snake. Looks like a great Van Damme film. The lady who plays Natasha is very beautiful and the baddies come across as cool, I love that. Great review Ollie
Awesome! Unfortunately, the censors tore this movie apart, and as a result is isn't as good as The Killer, Hard Boiled, or A Better Tomorrow in my opinion. Awesome review as always!
One of my favorite JCVD flicks. I have a work print VHS copy in storage somewhere, which has a temp track and loads more violence and scenes not in theatrical cut.
Oliver, you rule! The fact that you did this movie is great. It's one of my favorites, most notably because JCVD is rocking a mullet. Plus the John Woo slow-mo makes this movie extra hilarious / bad ass and just works really well with JCVD's acting. Another time another life we would be great friends man. Cheers!
Great job, Mr. Harper! I really like your reviews! They are a so in-depth and informative. Request: Could you do a Retrospective/Review of León/The Professional by Luc Besson? It's one of my favorite films and I would really love to hear your take on it.
Oliver: I came across this review by chance and very happy to have found it. Great job! Do you have a review on Hardboiled (great film) as I know it's a film you referenced in Hard Target.
Epic Van Damme with mullet kicking to the face, best John Woo movie. Best Van Damme film of all time. I want a sequel ! More slow motion kicks to the face are required in modern Van Damme films.
Agree with you. I love the roundhouse kick/close lining of the guy on the motorcycle in Hard Target and the "Why don't you sleep on it? I did that already..." from Timecop. Truly epic moments in each film.
I think that i agree almost 100% with the comments you made for this film. My personal opinion, this is Van Damme's best film but not because of him, but because of the one and only John Woo. I think he is the best action living director. His aesthetic and editing is a real piece of work. I really loved this film although I know it is not a great one in general, such as Face off. About Natasha, If you watched closely you could see that when Van Damme takes over the leading role, Natasha's character almost disappears. After the first half of the movie, she barely says anything again. About the pigeons, Woo had a shot with those in all of his American films and several Asians. Keep up.
I'm not sure if that is wholly accurate Olly - just before Roper is killed, he is begging people for help and they think he is begging for change, no-one helps him - metaphor for the invisibility of homelessness. Best thing about this is the bad guys, Vosloo in particular. Oliver, Oliver, Oliver, I'm watching another of your reviews. It's not hurting my feelings.
Great review I watched this film on vhs uncut in the UK surprised their is a longer version I think the film would of being better in its full print . I have to say that this is my second favourite John Woo USA film behind Face Off
Was it a coincidence that this movie had "Hard" in the title as it was a John Woo movie? I did get the feeling that was also one of his tropes along with the doves for a while. He's gutted he never got to touch any of the Die Hard movies if so :D
"what kind of a name is chance?" "my mama dook one" that line always cracks me up. To me this, Universal Soldier and Bloodsport are the best "classic van damme" flicks
The ´One Guy´ Van Damme´s character riddles with bullets is Sven Ole-Thorsen (buddy of Arnold and actor in many movies the Austrian starred, THE RUNNING MAN, CONAN THE BARBARIAN, etc)...you should have recognized/mentioned him.
This movie has my all-time favourite of Van Damme's Stupid Haircuts. (Which is weird, because I genuinely love his "Timecop" mullet, and not even only ironically. Go figure.)
Love how this dude talks about the soundtracks of movies. Even though the only movie soundtrack I really love is the Eddie Murphy Boomerang soundtrack.
![[Live สด] การออกรางวัลสลากกินแบ่งรัฐบาล งวดวันที่ 16 พฤศจิกายน 2567](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wPd7VFfWHIA/mqdefault.jpg)
Get Hard Target on Blu-ray here goo.gl/LV5Odr
Get the soundtrack to Hard Target here goo.gl/C5ux0C
The US Blu Ray is uncut like the UK version and it is a much better film! I'd say most of the NC-17 violence is on there but it's still missing Roper's full uncut death and the ear cutting scene.
Oliver Harper where I can finds the full uncut version please
Oliver Harper Double Impact please!
Excellent review
Great review what's the music from at the end, what film??
Classic Van Damme flick. I've never understood people bitching about the acting in a Van Damme movie, it's serviceable enough, you don't watch a Van Damme movie for the quality of the acting. Like you said Ollie it's all about the action and stunts, Van Damme kicking arse that's what we came to see.
As far as John Woo's Hollywood career in my opinion he peaked with Face Off, after that he really went downhill. Mission Impossible 2 was absolute shite and everything else was completely forgettable.
Another awesome retrospective Ollie.
Exactly! ( At least for the first part)
sorry for the necroposting but we can say that Face Off was an exception in Woo's filmography at the time, he came from almost flawless hard boiled
oir\action movies then he did Hard Taget, which i see as his most famous\well received "excellent movie", then Face Off, which was a very different movie compared to his "first life" as a director: it was good (imho his best works are the action\hard boiled) but different from his previous movie (and Cage's performance was the actual reason the movie looks better than it actually is), MI2 was his second experiment with action\techno thriller and yes, it sucked badly... compared to the very good one it just disappear, but it's more a matter of wrong tone: we came from a very Bondish Ethan Hunt to full action hero in the second one (basically setting the pave for the second life of Tom Cruise as a full action star).
TLDR: outside his almost flawless career in HK, in his early run in USA Hard Target was his best movie, the one with the most spectacular stunts great "gun porn" and a decent to solid plot that keeps all togheter, Face Off was a very good experiment with the techno thriller sub genre and MI2 was his first real mistake and the only movie of him that i just watched one single time.
The Killer, A better Tomorrow and Hard Target are his best movies IMHO.
I have an OK time with Wind talkers for NIC Cage, but it's not a great one besides that one I agree he peaked with Face Off. I enjoy all of his films very much up to and including Face-Off, after that, I can enjoy Wind talkers Ok and Paycheck with Ben Affleck that's another OK movie but doesn't feel like a John Woo film.
He does well here. Besides, you Have Lance and the fucking The Mummy himself chewing up the scenery with great performances anyway.
It is a classic. Such an awesome movie.
Van Damme is Awesome. Hollywood needs to give him one last chance in an A- list movie. Severely underrated in comedy too. Best thing in Expendables 2 yet after went bk doing straight to dvd stuff!!!
If you still havnt seen this movie let me sell it to you: Van Damme punches a snake
Love that scene!! He sorta slaps it on the top of the head, then slugs it right in the kisser... then he proceeds to bite it's rattle off, and sets a booby trap... sheer brilliance!
Am sold
SNAKES! PUNCH EM!
Sold! C'est bon, ça!
I love when he reveals his leg at 1:06 like it's a gun lol
Van Damme's mullet was epic.
You dont mess with a mullet like that
I hated it as a 12 year old, in 93, but I absolutely appreciate it, for it's epicness, now as an adult.
@@insertcolorfulmetaphor8520 did you pee when you saw yancee butler
The 90’s seemed like these type of films would never end, and I for one took that for granted. Silly lad...😔 Come back JCVD all is forgiven.
I find it almost impossible to pick a favourite Van Damme film but it would either be Hard Target, Universal Soldier or Double Impact. John Woo was in top form here considering it was his first Hollywood film but nothing will ever beat Hard Boiled. That insane single take action scene in the hospital? Madness. Genius but madness!
Yeah the single take shot in the hospital is superb. Amazing direction.
Oliver Harper ...and Hong Kong actors don’t come much cooler than Chow Yun-Fat! Such a great performer, and (most of the time) so good at firing a gun without blinking like mad every time it goes off!
AWOL is one of the best
Oliver have you thought about doing a retrospective on Double Impact? one of my favorite Van Damme movies :-)
Face/Off is where John Woo was given major creative freedom for that film. I have never watched Hard Target but it is an action-packed that I have watched such as The Killer, Face/Off, and Mission Impossible 2.
I think, John Woo is a great action Director from The Killer, Face/Off, and Mission Impossible 2
I love this movie. One of the most underrated action flicks of the 90s. John woo and jean Claude were great together.
Unloads an entire clip into one dude, then does a roundhouse kick to the face, knocking the cigar out of his mouth....classic!
That was Sven-Ole Thorsen who is close friends with Arnold Schwarzenegger and has been a bad guy in several of Schwarzeneggers movies along with being a bad guy and fighting against Steven Seagal in On Deadly Ground.
The most action packed JCVD movie ever made. Also has the best villains, Henrikssen & Vosloo.
Lol no
agreed. I would request Universal to release the full cut. With the romantic scenes.
Dolph is a better villain in Universal Soldier but this more is still excellent
@@NeverQuit87 yea it is! Is well made movie!
My personal favourite of van dammes movies
I remember my brother and I accidentally catching this on TV when we were kids (way too young to watch this type of film) and I loved Lance Henriksen so much that when my friends and I plays dress up, I stole my dads overcoat and popped the color and carried a pop pistol and imitated his voice lol. Great review as always, Olly!
haha playing dress up as Lance Henrikson!. Cheers for your comment John.
Thank you, sir.
Lance is old now, but he stil being cute, is an amazing actor, I love him
Great review. I do like Bloodsport and Kickboxer, but for me this is the best Van Damme film ...though I haven't seen any from this century aside from JCVD. I genuinely miss the days of Hollywood giving him a chance.
See they didn't have a problem with the cocaine use, it was his depression. Cause people in hollywood like to live in a make believe reality where everything is great all the time and fame is the only thing in life that matters.
Some of the latest stuff is alright but his last epic film was "JCVD" from 2008. Didn't really like "The Last Mercenary" on Netflix but "We Die Young" was pretty cool.
I met Lane Henriksen at Ottawa Comicon in 2015 (I've also met Peter Mayhew at the same event, and tbh Henriksen was more humble) and is probably the nicest and most sincere person that I'd ever met. I'd expressed my love for the character of Bishop, and he exhibited a lot of humility by my remark, and he shook my hand in gratitude. I'd also mentioned my favor for Steve Hackett in Mass Effect and he recalled it was a fun experience. He was so fucking cool.
Lance Henriksen es un magnífico actor, luce tan buena persona, quisiera conocerlo, amo sus personajes, y sin duda a él también
So your saying he is a legit person not just an "actor" like so many in the movie industry.
and it contains the most badass scene in a movie ever; punching a snake
nahh, the most badass scene is the stunt with the motorbike...
but even when he shotted that guy with a colorful shirt with an "inverted gun" or the dual gun shooting with Arnold Wooslo were sick.
and some uncle's lines were priceless.
This movie is just awesome. One of my favorite van damme movies
Van Damme's mullet is the masterpiece!
The mullet was great!. You don't know what you're talking about Oliver.
Van Damme checkboxed that 90s mullet in this one, worth it
HOLD UP! Van Damme looked badass with that mullet tho
This is my favourite action movie. I have it on VHS, Laserdisc, DVD, bluray and 4K!
I usually agree with everything you say Oliver. But not Van Dammes mullet. His mullet is glorious in this movie. He has the best looking mullet I've ever seen.
100%
Great retrospective, mr. Harper. I have been watching your videos for quite some time now but this is the first one on which i decided to leave a comment, and that mostly because Hard Target is one of my all time favorites (action) movies and with Universal Soldier my favorite Van Damme movie. As someone who is very familliar with movie censorship, i can honestly say that for some reason MPAA was particularly strict back in the early 90's which is why they ordered severe cuts on movies like Cliffhanger, The Crow, Predator 2 and many others. But watching the workprints of these movies with all uncut graphic scenes, i really can't see anything that was so violent and bloody that it had to be cut, which is why i think that censors really made a mistake demanding cuts on movies like this.
Hard Target 2 : A Second Chance
LOVED this movie, esp Jean Claude's full body kick above his head (in the scene where he saves Yancy Butler by her car) and of course the great Lance!!!
Terrific review! Very thorough! I bought the 99 min DVD a month ago and it is unreal. A complete action film. Great characters, great fights and gunplay. Couldn't ask for more!
Can you do Double Impact (1991)
every time i rewatch this movie i fell bad, very bad, for that policewoman's demise.
poor woman, she was apparently the only person trusting them... and got a payback in bulletts...
Every fucking second of this movie oozes coolness. JCVD's greasy ass mullet is so epic that I'm amazed the world did not explode.
Hard Target is my all time favourite action movie the uncut version on Blu ray is great but the real uncut version is epic.
"Chance???"
"Ma momma took one....."
Hehe brilliant. Thanks for sharing this Ollie, I've not watched Hard Target in a long time and this convinced me to blow the dust off the DVD lol. Some of the action in this is waaaay over the top and ludicrous but it all adds to the John Woo charm huh?? That shot of Van Damme standing on the bike going 2 mph is hilarious. Another great retrospective and I've already watched it a few times (was mainly just listening on a drive the first time!) thanks Ollie
Cheers Stew!. Yeah dust off that DVD and slap it back into your player but remember to do it in slo mo!.
Hehe way ahead of you!!
The motorcycle scene. I'll never forget! I saw it in theatre, and you could see the support wheels for more than a second. Never seen again on VHS, DVD or television...
Just superb! You Mr. Harper are quickly becoming one of my favourite youtubers
Best Van Damme movie ever.
Mottahead Bullshit bloodsport or no retreat no surrender
Mikey G sudden death
+1
Time cop is his best
No bloodsport is way better than this.
Van Damme with that mullet looks like the country singer Billy Ray Cyrus back in the 90's
Van Damme's best film, in my opinion. Definitely the most action-packed of his films and it has some of the best villains in all of his films. Loved the storyline as well.
Van Dammes mullet is glorious
Don't diss the mullet mate
This was the movie that got me into John Woo flicks back in the day.
Really love the action sections at the beginning and end edited for the retrospectives. It feels, like I'm watching the movie trailer (and movie) again for the first time. Great!
Hard target is the best action movie ever. It is my second best movie the first one wilj be Die Hard. I love to watch these movies so much. Hard Target, Bloodsport and Universal Soldier are my 3 top best Van Damme movies I love them so much and I love Love Hard Target To death! Thanks for the video I loved it and I have enjoyed your review.
+crazy4avrillavignex I love it too. Not sure if it's my favorite by any means, but definitely very very good. Face off is probably my favorite action movie.
Time cop is underrated, and was ahead of its time
Best action movie ever? Not even close to T2 or Bloodsport.
@@Neopunk2023 To me better than T2 and Bloodsport.
This is one of my favorite movies, remember buying the novelization so I could still have the movie with me at school...."Randall, Randall, Randall"...."What kind of name is Chance?" "My momma took one."
This in not just Van Damme’s best movie but also John Woo’s. I love Both The Killer and Hard Boiled, but the cinematography in this movie exceedes both. Every shot can be painted on a canvas. This movie can easily be turned into a comic book. Best villains, best atmosphere, the sound and soundtrack is exceptional, and let’s not ignore the best mullet ever…since it seems to come back :)), and I heard it looks incredible in 4k.
Can you do a retrospective on Surviving the Game? It's also a take on The Most Dangerous Game, and a cult classic
Direction was bound to go wrong with a French speaking Belgian trying to communicate with a Chinese director, both in their own chopped up English version 😬
I wish Hollywood DPs, editors and fight choreographers would pay attention to the beautiful slo-mo action in this and Woo's earlier movies. No shaky cam, yet exciting as hell.
Jean claude is a great editor. If it wasnt for him Blood Sport wouldnt be the movie that we all love.
As a fan of jcvd I never noticed that
I just could never get past the mullet perm in this one, but Yancy Butler is absolutely stunning.
A action masterpiece i love this movie i watched this movie so much when i was a kid john woo and van Damme styles mix perfectly
I thought the premise of the film was fantastic. I really enjoy it
No mention of Wilford Brimley?
diabeetus
Randal I'll cut me a steak.....lol
Lmfao
Van cleef:I don't get mad,I'm a professional
Horribly underrated action flick. Woo + JCVD was a superb combination, with Henriksen & Vosloo delivering terrific bad guy performances. Plus, the slide guitar track that plays in the diner fight is THE single greatest bit of fight music in any movie.
one of Van Damme's best action movie Hard Target
Yancy Butler was also the lead in the TNT series Witchblade, which finally came out awhile back on DVD in a complete series set.
Let's face fact from fiction here: no director could get close to construct the marvelous action-scenes than John Woo. Hardboiled is one of the most impressive and over the top action-films in recent history, but A Better Tomorrow is one of my favorite films of all time. I still got to check out Hard Target, though.
“Hard Target” is not bad. Sure, it’s nowhere near as good as the likes of “A Better Tomorrow”, “The Killer” or “Hard-Boiled”, but it could have been a lot worse.
Yeah, could have been BlackJack. Jesus, that movie was so dull. But still got to watch Hard Target.
Great review what's the music from at the end, what film??
Hard Target was pinnacle Hollywood Van Damme, imo. It also introduced me to John Woo at a young age. I remember watching this in theater thinking "Who directed these badass action sequences?" The internet was still young in its popularity when this film was released, but we still had the old trusted imdb, mirc, and mrqe. A little investigation on an old dial up connection brought me to John Woo, and the recently released Hard Boiled. The rest is history.
"I don't get angry, I'm a professional"
I still quote that line very often.
Great action, great cast, great soundtrack! I dont mind Van Dammes performance. I Think he has charm. And he sound weird because of his accent..not really his performance?
Oliver, not only are you the best reviewer around, bar none, I appreciate the way you refer to actors and movie crew members more often than not by their first names. I've always disliked when performers and professionals are referred to by their surnames. It always sounds very rude and impersonal. You doing the opposite of that adds a tone of humanity and respect to your work. Keep it up!
Will there ever be a Van Damme month/year of commentaries? lol
Grew up watching this, truly a classic! Only movie with the mummy cutting off an ear with scissors!
dude if you edited the movie clips together at the end you made it look like the greatest movie ever!
I knew the end montage would get some of the viewers pumped ;)
Haven't seen this film yet. Is the 100 minute cut the best version to watch?
when dealing with slow motion your stunts need to be on point. its comical to see him hit the guy in the side of the eye but his lip move like he kicked him in the jaw.
I only saw bits of this when I was a kid, I'll always remember that bit when he catches the snake. Looks like a great Van Damme film. The lady who plays Natasha is very beautiful and the baddies come across as cool, I love that. Great review Ollie
Love This Movie
Awesome! Unfortunately, the censors tore this movie apart, and as a result is isn't as good as The Killer, Hard Boiled, or A Better Tomorrow in my opinion. Awesome review as always!
that & the plot & characters are nowhere near as good as those movies this is popcorn flick not statement on crime or violence like ABT.
Thanks for this great retro. Lots of great memories attached to this action classic.
One of my favorite JCVD flicks. I have a work print VHS copy in storage somewhere, which has a temp track and loads more violence and scenes not in theatrical cut.
Just binge watching some Oliver Harper
Oliver, you rule! The fact that you did this movie is great. It's one of my favorites, most notably because JCVD is rocking a mullet. Plus the John Woo slow-mo makes this movie extra hilarious / bad ass and just works really well with JCVD's acting. Another time another life we would be great friends man. Cheers!
A great double-feature is this film and "Avenging Force" with Michael Dudikoff, two very similar storylines that go in two different directions
Another great action flick I own on VHS! Love your reviews!
Ive seen a bunch of movies with this plot. Surviving the game is an underrated movie in that genre.
John Woo was also an influence for the 2001 computer game "Max Payne" (mostly influenced by "Hard Boiled").
Would have been better with Kurt in it, but that's true for most films.
Van Dam is more believable as a creole though, the accent is wrong but have a ting of french in it. Kurt would have just been Kurt no accent.
One of the Greatest Action Movies of All Time!! My Favourite Van Damme Films!!! 90s Action Galore!!!. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾💯💯💯👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾
Great job, Mr. Harper! I really like your reviews! They are a so in-depth and informative.
Request:
Could you do a Retrospective/Review of León/The Professional by Luc Besson?
It's one of my favorite films and I would really love to hear your take on it.
I had promised LEON last year but I still need to pick up the blu ray.
Shame john Woo Hollywood films never matched up to t he quality of his Hong Kong films but this is a fun watch and a must for any VD fans :)
Oliver: I came across this review by chance and very happy to have found it. Great job! Do you have a review on Hardboiled (great film) as I know it's a film you referenced in Hard Target.
Wasn’t she witchblade?
Sven from Running Man 15:43 - 15:46
Epic Van Damme with mullet kicking to the face, best John Woo movie. Best Van Damme film of all time. I want a sequel ! More slow motion kicks to the face are required in modern Van Damme films.
i've watched it two times in the cinema and bought the vhs at day1.
in my opinion it's the best VD movie, tied with Timecop.
Agree with you. I love the roundhouse kick/close lining of the guy on the motorcycle in Hard Target and the "Why don't you sleep on it? I did that already..." from Timecop. Truly epic moments in each film.
I think that i agree almost 100% with the comments you made for this film. My personal opinion, this is Van Damme's best film but not because of him, but because of the one and only John Woo. I think he is the best action living director. His aesthetic and editing is a real piece of work. I really loved this film although I know it is not a great one in general, such as Face off. About Natasha, If you watched closely you could see that when Van Damme takes over the leading role, Natasha's character almost disappears. After the first half of the movie, she barely says anything again. About the pigeons, Woo had a shot with those in all of his American films and several Asians. Keep up.
I'm not sure if that is wholly accurate Olly - just before Roper is killed, he is begging people for help and they think he is begging for change, no-one helps him - metaphor for the invisibility of homelessness. Best thing about this is the bad guys, Vosloo in particular. Oliver, Oliver, Oliver, I'm watching another of your reviews. It's not hurting my feelings.
HOLY SHIT. The first 1-2 minutes of this video, the background sound is taken right out of The Crow 1994
Great review I watched this film on vhs uncut in the UK surprised their is a longer version I think the film would of being better in its full print . I have to say that this is my second favourite John Woo USA film behind Face Off
Was it a coincidence that this movie had "Hard" in the title as it was a John Woo movie? I did get the feeling that was also one of his tropes along with the doves for a while.
He's gutted he never got to touch any of the Die Hard movies if so :D
Why do you keep showing up in the comments of every video I watch, Larry?
StupidWizardFilms
Why do you watch every video I comment on? :D
***** We must connected some how. Perhaps it was the crazy old man I met in england one time
StupidWizardFilms
That was actually me.
***** Then who was the goatee'd man that led me to you!? He could be behind it all.
"what kind of a name is chance?"
"my mama dook one"
that line always cracks me up.
To me this, Universal Soldier and Bloodsport are the best "classic van damme" flicks
The ´One Guy´ Van Damme´s character riddles with bullets is Sven Ole-Thorsen (buddy of Arnold and actor in many movies the Austrian starred, THE RUNNING MAN, CONAN THE BARBARIAN, etc)...you should have recognized/mentioned him.
This movie has my all-time favourite of Van Damme's Stupid Haircuts. (Which is weird, because I genuinely love his "Timecop" mullet, and not even only ironically. Go figure.)
Its a masterpiece. ... And I think Van Damme's acting is great in it.
I used to love this movie when I was a kid. One of my favs ever
Love how this dude talks about the soundtracks of movies. Even though the only movie soundtrack I really love is the Eddie Murphy Boomerang soundtrack.